ABC | Volume 110, Nº4, April 2018

Original Article Muñoz et al Atrial fibrillation ablation in valve disease Arq Bras Cardiol. 2018; 110(4):312-320 Figure 5 – Masson´s Trichrome. Collagen fibers are stained blue. A) AF recurrence 6 days after ablation. Abundant atrial fibrosis (arrow) of perivascular predominance. B) Sinus rhythm maintenance during follow-up. Mild atrial fibrosis (arrow). Figure 4 – Log-rank test for comparison of Kaplan-Meier curves according to mitral valve surgery (p = 0.006), age > 69 years old (p = 0.027) and left atrial volume > 64 ml/m 2 (p = 0.030). AF: atrial fibrillation; LA: left atrial; y.o.: years old 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0,0 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0,0 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0,0 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 AF-free survival rate AF-free survival rate AF-free survival rate Follow up (months) Follow up (months) LA volume (ml/m 2 ) Mitral valve surgery 64 or less > 64 Yes No 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0,0 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 AF-free survival rate Follow up (months) Follow up (months) Mitral valve surgery Age Yes No 69 y.o or younger > 69 y.o at risk for LA regional failure or arrhythmias or to assess LA characteristics in patients with LA dilatation of undetermined cause. 18 LA strain has also been used to predict post-operative AF after mitral valve intervention. 19 However, there are no previous data describing LA mechanics after concomitant AF surgical ablation in VHD patients or series aiming to obtain the relationship between recurrence and atrial mechanics in this group of patients. 317